Picnic with Friends

Today was a gorgeous day! We were very thankful because we had had the kids invite a friend or two from each of their classes to join us for a picnic. We planned to meet them at a local venue called Victoria Park. This park has numerous tracks (hiking and biking trails), a visitor centre, a dog exercise area, a playground with picnic tables, and a fabulous view of the Canterbury Plains.

We enjoyed meeting the different families and asking them about things that perplexed us, while eating our respective lunches. Since one of the families had not attended Beckenham, it was interesting to learn which schools fed into Cashmere High School. Two of the families had girls who were both Year 8’s and will likely meet each other again next year at Cashmere. As we shared our desserts, we talked about the differences and similarities between Christchurch and Redlands schools and sports. They were very surprised at the amount of homework that is required of children in the US. It turns out “homework” is a hot topic here as well.

After sitting around and talking for so long, the kids were antsy to get the group up and moving. We first showed them our collection of Frisbees and disc golf discs. Then we got out Ben’s birthday cricket set and had an all inclusive pick-up cricket game, including some kids from other families at the park. We’re slowing learning about the generalities of the game (I’m not sure there are many non-British commonwealth people who understand the intricacies!).

In cricket speak, I’ll describe the pictures above. The top one shows Ben as the bowler, Brigid as the batsman, and William as the non-striking batsman; the wicket-keeper is an unknown child, and Margaret can just be seen playing long leg (which in this case is also the swing). The next picture shows Margaret as striker (or batsman) with Ben as the wicket-keeper. Can you see the red ball she's just hit in front of Ben's face and the fact that Margaret is once again barefoot? We also played a modified game of disc golf, some volleyball, and a little rock climbing mixed in for the younger set.